Sir Fred Goodwin’s treatment 'similar' to victims of the Nazis, senior banker claims

The treatment of former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has been similar to that of the victims of the Nazis, a senior banker has claimed.

Sir Angus Grossart, who described Goodwin as a “good friend”, likened the condemnation of him by both the public and the media as having “shades of Kristallnacht”.

In an interview with the Scotsman, the financier went on to say that the banker was unfairly villified for the UK’s banking crisis as the blame should have been shouldered by other bankers and politicians.

Sir Angus, who is in regular contact with his former colleague, told the news provider: “I think he’s very sad at the way he was victimised.

“Clearly he made a mistake as did most people in the financial world, most people in government, most people in regulatory organisations. There is no doubt he was going to be criticised, but I think there is a deliberate attempt to polarise the criticism, to some extent, as a distraction, a scapegoat kind of thing.”

Sir Fred Goodwin left RBS after the bank utilised on £20 billion worth of taxpayer money to stay afloat during the credit crisis.

By Jim Ottewill